Militants Hold Seven Iraq Oil Fields After Syria Blitz, IEA Says

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

By Nayla Razzouk Aug 12, 2014 10:11 AM ET

Islamic State fighters have captured seven oil fields in Iraq with a total output capacity of 80,000 barrels a day, adding to energy deposits they seized earlier in neighboring Syria, the International Energy Agency said.

The insurgents, who swept into northern Iraq in June, grabbed the Ain Zalah and Batma fields in Nineveh province this month, the IEA said today in its monthly oil market report. They already controlled the Najma, Qayara, Himreen, Ajeel and Balad fields, the agency said. The potential flow of oil from deposits they hold in Iraq would fetch about $8.4 million a day on international markets, based on yesterday’s closing price for benchmark Brent crude of $104.68 a barrel.

The militants, tapping oil fields to supply their own fuel needs and generate revenue by smuggling, have advanced toward Iraq’s self-governed Kurdish region and its capital Erbil, the IEA said. They were about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Bai Hassan field near Kirkuk, a northern oil hub and Iraq’s fourth-biggest field, it said.

“Everyone is watching very closely to see whether the Islamic State can make any further advances toward Erbil or toward the fields like Bai Hassan that are closest to the frontline because there is a very real threat there,” Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London, said by phone. “A number of international oil companies working in the Kurdish region are concerned” and have withdrawn their staff, he said.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-12/militants-hold-seven-iraq-oil-fields-after-syria-blitz-iea-says.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. How the fuck do these people have the knowhow to produce

and refine oil for their fuel needs and/or smuggling? Who is in their hierarchy who has this industry expertise?

[ballyhoo]

2. What!? They are being financed by Saudi Arabia and Quatar with donations from

others, and the funds are being processed through Kuwait.

[TwilightGardener]

4. I understand how they've been funded (questionable now if that's happening

still), but they'd have to have a crap ton of skilled workers from somewhere who agree to their nuttiness. Who are these petroleum-engineer jihadists?

[ballyhoo]

6. I can't answer that question because the

answer would get juried. Where did the arms come from that ISIS is using right now against the Peshmerga? Also, contemplate the question why is this happening at all?

[arcane1]

10. The neocons originally wanted Iraq out of OPEC

It seems ISIS might have the same idea.

[ballyhoo]

12. Yes, well, they are sort of on the

same team. Originally, the neocons thought they would get all the oil after the welcome and the flowers being laid down before the troops. I think once everyone understands that the ISIS formation is really to keep one country away from another in perpetuity it will all make sense.

[TwilightGardener]

18. I think Russia/Iran's role in all of this would be interesting to explore.

Because I notice many pro-Russian people on DU constantly commenting on all this ISIS stuff, and it makes my antennae perk up.

[ballyhoo]

19. Russia is not in it except for the arms money. Iran is in it because ISIS serves as a protection

for another me-need-money player from Iran. I don't see the connection to ISIS. I think many people don't agree with you about the Ukraine/Russian war. I am one of them. But there is no sense discussing it here. It should on again more violently real soon with Putin now having an example to follow of coming to aid of people. And the Separatists ARE Russian. ISIS, actually TIS now, are not Iraqi or Kurdish. So Russian has even more reason to go to the aid of the Separatists. I'm pretty much letting that situation slide until the Dutch render a verdict on MH17--unless that verdict is obviously tainted by the UK FDR. No offense.

[TwilightGardener]

20. No, Russia had a port in Syria. They very much back and sponsor Assad.

I've seen lots of pro-Russian propagandists who were very involved in spreading "info" about how awful the various rebel factions were in Syria (eating hearts, etc.) and blaming them on the US. No, Putin is very much in the mix. He also suddenly gave fighters to Iraq to fight ISIS, although they probably have no means to fly or support them, and then...??? The whole thing is weird and deeply involved.

[ballyhoo]

23. I will agree with you there. Well, I've got to go outside..I'm

thinking about converting my pool to a bomb shelter and have someone coming over to give me an estimate. I think this whole strange thing will go WW3 and we have already named all the big players. If it's too expensive I won't do it; I'll build something.

[TwilightGardener]

17. If you were going to say, The US, yeah, that should get juried.

Even if we somehow meant to create ISIS by arming the "wrong" Syrian rebels, why does Assad/Russia/Iran not really fight them IN SYRIA? Why would Obama want to have to go back into Iraq to deal with them? Ending Iraq was a big thing for him. BTW, Iran isn't really fighting them in Iraq, either, despite making some very small maneuvers toward that end initially. The whole thing is very strange.

[CJCRANE]

25. Because they don't want to get bogged down.

The same reason the American public doesn't want to send troops back to Iraq.

[TwilightGardener]

26. Possibly. But I remember reading in at least two places that Assad pretty much leaves

ISIS alone and only fights the Free Syrian Army "moderates". I always thought that was weird.

[CJCRANE]

27. ISIS may be more interested in Iraq.

If that's the case then Assad would be wise to steer clear of them as they seem to be better equipped and better trained than the moderates.

ISIS may also be keeping their distance in order not to draw in Assad's allies against them.

[arcane1]

9. Wouldn't the Saudis (OPEC) want them to NOT produce oil, to keep the price up?

[ballyhoo]

13. You would think that, for sure.......

[yurbud]

16. The Iraqi parliament refused to pass the Hydrocarbon Law our government demanded

so it's time to put the kebosh on even the pretense of democracy (from the oil company perspective).

The Kurds were less picky about how much of their oil income they got and were grateful that we protected them from Saddam between the wars.

[candelista]

3. Now the reason for war appears in the nude.

No distractions, no obfuscations, just oil.

[TwilightGardener]

5. But on whose behalf? It's probably not just the al-Baghdadi dude with

the beard and the Rolex watch. Is there a state actually behind this?

[candelista]

7. On behalf of the burgeoning caliphate.

The Islamic state-to-come.

[TwilightGardener]

15. Ummm, maybe. I find it odd since AQ never had an "industry". The Taliban

sort of had poppies, but duh, so did the rest of Afgh. How many terror groups are able to run entire oil fields and have a market? Who's providing them the expertise and labor?

[candelista]

21. They can hire plenty of qualified people with money they already have.

In 2007, the Islamic State of Iraq was seen as “the richest of the insurgency groups” in Iraq with $1 billion to 1.5 billion “collected in revenue by the group through foreign donations, enforced taxation and confiscation of the property and funds of Iraqis.” But the U.S. surge and ISI missteps significantly damaged the jihadist group’s ability to raise funds.

Seven years and three names later, ISIS amassed a $2 billion comeback and took control of large swathes of territory in northern Iraq including Mosul and 35 percent of Syria.

http://moneyjihad.wordpress.com/2014/08/11/money-and-the-islamic-state-of-iraq/

[TwilightGardener]

22. Right, but why would these workers and professionals also be jihadists?

That would mean there are several layers to ISIS--the top is full of business people, professionals, educated people who possibly have contacts with heads of state and corporations, and the bottom layer is the young male psychopaths, sadists, and disgruntled losers they attract and pay to do the actual terror, very well-documented and marketed terror, I might add. The whole thing, as I've said above, is weird.

[candelista]

24. Some "professionals" will work for anyone if the price is right.

Besides, there are undoubtedly intellectuals and professionals in IS. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the current head of Al Qaeda is a physician.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayman_al-Zawahiri

Don't underestimate these people.

[KoKo]

8. Some Related Links and a Map of Iraq Oil Fields/Pipelines

Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc began removing employees from Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, after Islamist militants seized cities north of Baghdad and attempted to capture a refinery.

Exxon evacuated some workers from the West Qurna oil field, according to a person familiar with the company’s Iraq operations. BP Plc removed non-essential workers, Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said June 17. Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd. moved 28 of its 166 Iraq employees to Dubai, the company said by e-mail yesterday. Royal Dutch Shell Plc isn’t evacuating staff yet and is ready to do so, Andy Brown, head of Shell Upstream International, said in an interview in Moscow.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/isil-battles-elite-iraq-troops-for-nation-s-biggest-oil-refinery.html

Related:

------------
Oil Odyssey Offers Glimpse of Kurdish Independence in Iraq
By Selcan Hacaoglu, Jack Fairweather and Nayla Razzouk Jun 19, 2014 2:02 PM ET




A tanker containing a million barrels of crude oil is floating around the Mediterranean, and any buyer will be helping Iraq’s Kurds to win greater independence.

The oil aboard is available at half-price, an official involved in the trade told Bloomberg, an assertion denied by the Kurdish administration. It's at the center of a fight over ownership between the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, which pumped and shipped the crude from its territory in northern Iraq, and the central government in Baghdad, which claims the rights to all oil revenue.

Kurdish Peshmerga armed forces took control of northern Iraq’s key oil hub, Kirkuk, after militant Islamists routed the Baghdad government’s army last week. The oil dispute has raised the possibility of the Kurdish region achieving financial self-sufficiency to go with the expanding territory.

“If that tanker docks, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government will take an important step toward independence,” Nihat Ali Ozcan, an analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara, said by phone on June 13.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/half-price-kurdish-oil-threatens-iraq-breakup-with-turkish-help.html

---------------

Turkey’s Role

Turkey, the conduit for the Kurdish oil, also sees Kurdish crude oil exports through its Mediterranean port of Ceyhan as “entirely legitimate” and will continue as long as oil is sold, Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said in an interview in Moscow today. The next shipment is scheduled for June 22, he said at the World Petroleum Congress.

“At the moment, 100,000 barrels to 120,000 barrels of oil flow from northern Iraq per day,” Yildiz said. “About 2.3 million barrels of oil are stored in Ceyhan.”

Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said on Iraqiya television on June 17 that Turkey and the KRG are mistaken if they’re calculating that the current chaos in Iraq will leave the Baghdad government unable to defend its interests.

“The Iraqi people won’t forget those who conspired against them during tough times,” al-Shahristani said. “Turkey should be aware that this is like playing with fire. This is plundering the wealth of Iraq.”
U.S. Mediation

Brett McGurk, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, reiterated U.S. opposition to any oil exports that aren’t approved by Baghdad. The U.S. has “informed all interested parties that any such transactions exposes them to potential legal risks,” and proposed a compromise plan to both sides, he wrote on Twitter on May 23.
Photographer: Onur Coban/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Kurdish Peshmerga forces stand guard in Kirkuk.

As the Kurds went ahead with pumping the oil, the Baghdad government announced it was suspending the accord under which 17 percent of all oil revenue goes to the Kurdish authorities in their regional capital, Erbil.

“The U.S. failed totally to mediate between Erbil and Baghdad on this issue,” and their standoff has now sparked “growing U.S. fears that Kurdistan is headed for independence,” David Ottaway, senior scholar in the Middle East program at the Wilson Center in Washington, said June 10.
Oil Price

The violence in Iraq since last week has amplified such concerns and pushed oil prices higher. Brent crude posted the biggest jump in almost a year last week. It rose above $115 a barrel in London today, reaching a nine-month high.

Militants of the Sunni Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant seized Mosul, the largest northern city, on June 10 and have captured other towns. As Baghdad’s armed forces fled, the Kurds advanced into Kirkuk, which they’ve long claimed should be part of their autonomous region. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), BP Plc (BP/) and Turkey’s state oil company TPAO began removing employees from Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, as the insurgents attempted to capture a major refinery.

Even without Kirkuk, the Kurdish region has crude reserves it estimates at 45 billion barrels, a quarter of Iraq’s total. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the KRG has claimed the right to handle shipments from its territory.

In 2004, a year after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the KRG struck an agreement with the central government in Baghdad to share oil revenue. The deal left key questions unresolved, including the fate of Kirkuk and how to share untapped oil fields.
Turkish Storage

Since 2011, KRG has attracted four big oil companies -- Chevron Corp. (CVX), Exxon Mobil Corp., Hess Corp. (HES) and Total SA (FP) -- as well as 30 or so smaller ones. Tony Hayward, chief executive office of Genel Energy Plc (GENL), the biggest oil and gas operator in Kurdistan, was among those who risked the wrath of the Iraqi government to truck Kurdish oil to Turkey.

Trucks have been superseded since January by a new Kurdish link to the main northern pipeline, which runs from Kirkuk to Turkey’s Mediterranean oil terminal at Ceyhan. Turkey agreed to handle the shipment and store it separately from the main Iraqi crude. It allocated seven of 12 storage tanks at Ceyhan for Kurdish oil.

The Iraqi government initiated legal action against Turkey, taking the case to the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Asim Jihad, an Iraqi oil ministry spokesman, said a lawsuit has also been filed domestically against the KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources.
Higher Fees
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/half-price-kurdish-oil-threatens-iraq-breakup-with-turkish-help.html

[arcane1]

11. Thanks! This will be an interesting read indeed!

[KoKo]

14. You're Welcome!

That map explains alot.. Sometimes the Business News is best in getting to the heart of a conflict.. "follow the money."

Meanwhile the thousands on the mountain don't have a way to get out. Just the small numbers that can get out on relief helicopters and we don't know about the other people who are caught in the middle of all the fighting.

What a mess all around.

[roamer65]

28. I'd bet anything the refined fuel is from the KSA.

The Jihadistanis made a beeline for the border with KSA about a month or two back,then stopped right there. That would open a supply route from the KSA. Makes sense since they are KSA's proxies in the war with Iran.